How do I save the user submitted values of a multi-step node editing form in the database after last step submission?

Question

In Drupal 7, I am trying to programmatically create a custom content type. I have defined my custom content type implementing hook_node_info().

For my node editing form, I am using hook_form() and defined my custom node's title here. I used hook_form_alter() to convert my node editing form into a multi-step form, where I used the following code.

if ($step == 4) {
  $form['actions']['finish'] = array(
    '#type'   => 'submit',
    #value'  => t('Submit'),
  );
}
// Add validation handler.
$form['#validate'][] = 'mymodule_form_validate';
// Add submission handler.
$form['#submit'][] = 'mymodule_form_submit';   

function mymodule_form_validate($form, &$form_state) {
  drupal_set_message(t('validating multistep form'));
}

function mymodule_form_submit($form, &$form_state) {
  switch($form_state['triggering_element']['#value']) {
    case $form['actions']['next']['#value']: // if 'Continue >>' is clicked.
      $step++;
      $form_state['rebuild'] = TRUE;
      break;
    case $form['actions']['finish']['#value']: // if 'Submit' is clicked.
      $form_state['rebuild'] = FALSE;
      // To Do.
      // Store the values from the form in the database here.
      drupal_set_message(t('Your form has been submitted'));
      break;
  }
}

My multi-step form is working great, but I am stuck on my last step of the form, where I save the user submitted values in the database. I am not getting any reference on this topic. I am looking for information on how to save my this node in the database, what hooks to use, and some more details. Please guide me in the right direction.

Answer 1

After you have constructed your custom node object by stepping through your multi-form, use the node_save() function. That will write your node to the database.

To see how Drupal creates and saves it nodes you can take a look at node_add(). Hope that helps a little.